Babies Accidentally Switched At Illinois Hospital

State public health officials at a southern Illinois hospital admitted today that two babies were accidentally switched with one of the infants actually leaving the hospital and going home with the wrong family.

The mistake happened in March at Heartland Regional Medical Center in Marion and involved two newborn boys.

Hospital workers soon learned of the error and immediately contacted the family.

A spokeswoman for the state health department says the hospital wasn’t required to report the matter, but it did on April 4th.

Because of patient privacy laws, the hospital isn’t commenting and the families’ names aren’t being released.